Adley Rutschman has yet to make his Boston Red Sox debut after the team acquired him at the trade deadline, but it looks like that could be changing very soon.
Rutschman, who has been out of action since Jul. 18 due to a wrist injury, has been on a rehab assignment in Triple-A. And according to interim manager Chad Tracy, the three-time All-Star catcher will be with the team in Toronto and could make his debut soon.
"Adley's traveling with us, yeah. He's gonna have a workout day for us [on Monday]. We'll assess and see where he's at, how he feels, and go from there," Tracy said during a press conference on Sunday.
Adley Rutschman will provide a huge boost to the Red Sox
Even though they're losers of two in a row and just lost their first series since the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown on Jul. 1 (no, seriously), the Red Sox are still well-equipped to make a deep playoff run this year.
With less than two months of regular season baseball remaining, Boston is 64-53 and is 5.5 games ahead of the Texas Rangers for the second AL Wild Card spot (and only 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees for the first spot). And with its combination of elite pitching and improved offense, and the fact that the American League is very weak, Boston actually has a real chance to make the World Series this year.
One of the team's biggest weaknesses, though, has been its catcher spot. The team has rolled out a combination of Connor Wong (who is fine but isn't a championship-caliber catcher), Carlos Narvaez (who hit .187 across 171 at-bats for the Red Sox this season and was sent to Baltimore as part of the Rutschman trade), and Mickey Gasper (who was sent back down to the minors in June and will likely stay there).
That's obviously not ideal, especially for a Red Sox team that has serious championship aspirations now. And adding Rutschman, who is batting .251 this season with eight home runs and a .764 OPS and is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, will give them a major reinforcement and bolster their team overall.
A lot of pressure is on Adley Rutschman to perform in Boston
I have already been on record saying that the Red Sox needed to make their trade for Rutschman. He addresses one of their biggest weaknesses, and given that he's only 28 years old, he can be a real contributor for years to come.
However, there's also no denying that Boston gave up a lot to acquire him. Pitcher Anthony Eyanson was one of the Red Sox' top prospects, and Kyson Witherspoon and Enddy Azocar have some potential as well.
This could end up being a bit of an overpay from Boston's perspective, and there's a chance that this backfires in the end. At the same time, though, this was a risk the team needed to take. And if Rutschman provides as much value in Boston as everybody expects, then this trade should turn into a legitimate needle-mover for them.
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